Apparatus for transferring boats from one body of water to another.



PATENTED OCT. 18, 190 1.

T. THOMSON. APPARATUSVFOR TRANSPERRING BOATS PROM ONE BODY OF WATER TOANOTHER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1 NO MODEL.

W way/W Wham T. THOMSON.

PATENTED OCT. 18, 1904.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSPBRRING BOATS FROM ONE BODY OF WATER N0 MODEL.

TO ANOTHER."

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 25,1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 No. 772,482. I I P ATEN TED OCT. 18, 1904,

- T. THOMSON. 1 APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING BOATS PROM ONE BODY OF WATERTO ANOTHER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1904. I I I N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ZWMWJM I I v Ina/en? aka .wmfft zafinw construction. construction.

. alent for such gates.

" UNITED STATES Patented October 18, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

Trio As THOMSON, oFsEAHiiM HARBOR, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING BOATS FROM ONE BODY OF WATER TO ANOTHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 772,482, dated. October18, 1904:.

llpplicationfiledJu1y26,1904.. Serial No. 218,011.- (roman To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS THoMsoN, engineer, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at The Bungalow, Seaham Harbor, in the county ofDurham, England, have invented a new and useful Improved Apparatus forTransferring Boats from One Piece of Water to Another, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for transferring boats in' canals orrivers-*for exam a section on the line AB of Fig. 1, showing.

one construction oflock whereby the boat is isolated from the onestretch of-wate'rand is introduced into the traveling tank. Fig. 3 is aplan view, and Fig. 1 an elevation, of the traveling tank. Fig. 5 is anenlargedplan view of the wheel-frames and guides therefor, the body ofthe tank being indicated in outline by dotted lines. Fig. Gis asectional view of the tank, taken on the line C D of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is asectional view taken on the line E F of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 isa detail of oneof the wheel-bearings. Fig. 9 is a section through one of the guides-forinstance, on the line G H of Fig. 5. Figs. 10,11, and 12'are similarsectional views of modified constructions of the guides shown in Fig. 9.

The chamber or lock for admitting a boat to the traveling tank may haveany suitable Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate one and 2, separated by two pairsof lock-gates 3 or by any equivalent known device, while the outer lock1 is cut off from the canal or the like-.bya pair of gates 4 or anyknown equiv- The tank hereinafter described for carrying the boat isprovided at its end with caisson 5 or any known equiv- "tion.

The lock has two chambers 1 alent device adapted to close the end ofsaid ,tank, the said caisson being arranged to rest against shoulders6on the tank.- For holding the tank against the end of lock ,2 anysuitable device may be provided. In the example shown rods 7, embeddedin the dockwalls, are provided with loops '8 at their ends, throughwhich pins9 are passed into the wall of the tank for holding same firmlyinposi- Any known meansis provided for filling and emptying the locks.In the example shown a device is illustrated in dotted lines,

'wherein 11 is a filling-pipe and 12 represents emptying-pipes for thelock 2, while 13 is a filling-pipe and 14 represents emptying-pipes forthe lock 1.

Pipes 11 and 13 communicate by the connection 15 with a source of water.at higher level, and pipes 12 and 1 1 discharge beyondthe lock 1 intothe canal. p

The tank itself is formed of U shaped frames 16, appearing in thesectional views Figs. 6 and 7, said frames being lined with plating 17The frames 16 are supported by longitudinal girders l8 and transversegirders 50. The frames at the two ends of the tank are made as rigid aspossible in any manner'or by any arrangement of girders well known toengineers, and diagonal ties 20 are provided for strengthening the saidends.

In the middle part of the tank, however, the frames are connected byflexible plating in 'the manner illustrated in Fig. 3, in which it willbe seen that the plates 17 are buckled" or arched. The object of this isto allow the tank to bend or arch itself longitudinally in passing overthe. rail-track without fear of breakage at or near the center.

The forward end of the tank is closed in the example shown by theplating 19, while the rear end has the caisson 5 therein alreadyreferred to.

length of the tank from its ends. These pivots perform the whole work ofguiding the tank on the rail-track. Upon the said pivots work two frames24, each carrying a plurality of pairs of wheels 25, mounted in ahorizontal plane in brackets 26. Said wheels bear against the top of theguide-rail 22, as seen in Fig. 6. On each side of the pivots 23 arearranged other pivots 27, carrying wheel-frames 28, the wheels 29 ofwhich run upon the rails 21. The frames 28 are connected to the frame 24by links in such a way that the said frames 28 always move parailel tothe frame 24. On all other parts of the tank the wheel-frames are notconnected directly to the tank-body, but are arranged to slide under thesame and to be guided longitudinally by the central rail 22. Thesedisconnected wheel-frames are indicated in the drawings by thereference-numeral 31, and each of said frames has wheels 29, running onthe bearing-rails 21, and also at or near each end a pair ofguiding-rollers 32, working against the heads of guiding-rail 22.

All the bearing-wheels 29 are flangeless, but are of sufficient breadthto bear properly upon the rails 21 within the limits of the movement oftheir frames on curves, &c. All the bearing-wheels are mounted insuitable spring aXle-boXes. In Fig. 8 one suitable construction is shownby way of example, the bush 34 being in this case arranged to slide inthe box 33, while it is normally pressed downward by strong springs 35and is guided by rods 36, passing through said springs. No novelty ofcourse is claimed for this arrangement; but it is intended to servemerely as an example of a suitableconstruction.

Suitable bearing-surfaces 38 are provided between the wheel-frames andthe under part of the tank. At or near the center,where the lateralmovement is slight, plain bearing-surfaces may be used, such as areshown at 37, for the frames 28, linked to the pivoted guiding-frames 24and also shown in greater detail in Fig. 10. Where the movement isgreater, however, and in some cases in all positions, roller-bearingsare provided, and these may be constructed in any of the waysillustrated in Figs. 9 to 12. The bearing-surfaces 38, over which therollers work, are struck to such a radius that when the guiding-wheels32 cause the wheel-frame to move to one side in passing around a curvein the t ad; the frame is turned so that the bearing-wheels assumepositions in planes tangential to the curve in the track. Saidbearing-surfaces may consist of arc-shaped bars 38, attached to theunder side of the tank and the tops of the wheel-frames in any suitableway. The rollers are tapered, as is shown in the simplest constructionin Fig. 9, the tapering being such that the frames will turn truly underthe arc-shaped bearingsurfaces. In Fig. 9, 39 is a tapered roller,

mounted.

guided at its ends by plates 40, passed over the pins at the ends ofsaid roller.

Fig. 11 shows a device wherein rollers are provided for taking theweight of the tank and also for guiding the frames horizontally. In thiscase 41 is the guiding-bar, of suitable curvature, attached beneath thetransverse girder of the tank. 42 is the bearing-roller, and 43 thebearing-bar, mounted upon the wheel-frame. The roller 42, or rather asuccession of such rollers, such as is shown as seen from the end inFig. 7, is guided by means of side plates 44, projecting above the sidesof the bar 41, and between which plates extend the pins 45, on which therollers 42 are From the front and back of the transverse beam 50 arehung brackets 46, carrying fiat surfaces or rails 49, between which andthe sides of the guide-bar 43 rollers 47, supported on vertical spindles48 from the plates 44, are adapted to work. It will be seen that therollers 47 will always guide the wheel-frame in its movements under thetankbody, insuring that the guidebar 43 on said frame shall remainvertically below the guidebar 41 on the tank.

Fig. 12 shows a modified arrangement of the guiding-rollers. In thiscase bearing-surfaces 51 are arranged on the tank and wheelframe,respectively, between which work rollers 52, held in side plates 53 insubstantially the same manner as the rollers are held in the arrangementillustrated in Fig. 9. A separate deviceis provided for guiding thewheelframe horizontally under the tank. This consists of angle-pieces54, projecting downward from the tank, and vertical pins 55, projectingupward from the wheel-frame and carrying rollers 56, adapted to workbetween angle-pieces 54.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 10 a plain bearing arrangement withoutrollers is seen. In this case a bar 57, with a groove along the center,ismounted under the transverse beam 50 in the tank, while acorresponding bar 58, mounted on the wheel-frame, has an arch 59 at thecenter fitting in the groove in the bar 57.

In Figs. 3 and 4 arrangements are shown consisting of shores forsupporting the boat (shown in dotted lines) when inside the tank. Theshores (indicated at 60) may be of any known form, preferably hydraulic.Near each end of the tank are pivoted at the sides on blocks 61 beams62, carrying, in the example shown, pairs of shores 63. The beams areprovided beyond their pivots with co u nterweights 64, so that they maybe raised or lowered when required. The block 61 at one end of the tank,at the entrance end in the example shown, is preferably arranged toslide longitudinally in any suitable wayas, for instance, by a slideengaging in a groove 67* by which means the beam may be movedlongitudinally to suit different lengths of boats.

In using the arrangements described above the succession ofoperations'will be substan" tially as follows: The tank having beenplaced in the position shown in Fig. 1, the boat is first admitted intothe lock 1, and the gates i being closed water is allowed toenter thelock 1 until the boat is at such a level that it can enter the tank; Thelock 2 and-the tank are filled with water to the same level, and thegates 3 being open and the caisson 5 moved away into the recess 65 theboat can be floated into thetank and the caisson 5 replaced. The locks 1and 2 can now be emptied. The boat is held up firmly in the tank by'thehydraulic shores 60 and 63, hereinbefore referred to, thebeam 62 havingbeen lowered from the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7 to theposition shown in full lines. The tank is now ready to travel over therail-track, either to another stretch of water or up or down a slightincline to water at different level. 4 In traveling the two main pivots23 insure that the tank at these two points shall be over theguiding-rail 22, while' the wheel-frames 31, guided by their rollers 32,slide across the tank when the track is curved, as in'Fig. 5, thissliding being permitted by the use'of bearingsurfaces of any of thetypes such as have been described above.

lar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the boat is allowed to pass outby a reversal of the operations whereby it entered the tank. As beforementioned, the sliding and pivoting wheel-frames support the tank andallow it to pass around the curves without lateral bend ing. Thebuckling or bending of the plates 17 in the central part of thetankallows it to arch vertically to a certain extent, so that the tankcan pass over vertical curves without damage. The spring axle-boxessupporting the wheels also facilitate this. From the above descriptionit is thought that the method of construction and the manner ofoperation of the boat-transferring arrangement will be clearlyunderstood. r

Many modifications can be made without departing from the scope of theinvention as defined by the following claims. For instance, in somecases substantial downwardlyprojecting pins 66, having curved sides, may

be attached beneath the tank for insuring that the sliding wheel-framesshall keep in their I would have it understood that I do not limitmyself to the exact construction of tank shown.

The arrangement of the locks for admitting the boat to and removing itfrom the tank is also indicated merely by way "of example,

When the tank arrives at its destination, it is backed against a locksimiand any other known arrangement of locks' adapted toserve the samepurpose may be employed.

What I claim is 1. In a boat-transferring apparatus the combination of atank, a rail-track, a plurality of wheel-frames adapted to run on saidtrack, a guide-rail and means connected to the tank for guiding the sameover said guide-rail, means for guiding the wheel-frames,bearing-surfaces between the wheel-frames and the tank,

and means for admitting a'boat to and discharging a boat from the tank.

2. In a boat-transferring apparatus the combination of a tank, arail-track, a plurality of wheel-frames adapted to run onsaid track, aguide-rail, means for guiding said wheel- 'frames along the guide-rail,two pivots fixed chargingthe same from the tank. 7

3. In a boat-transferring apparatus the combination of a tank, arail-track, a plurality of wheel-frames adapted to 'run on said track,means for guiding the tank in such manner that it will movelongitudinally over the track, means for guiding the wheel-frameson theframes andthe tank, and means for admitting a boat to and dischargingthe same from the tank.

.track, bearing-surfaces between the wheel- 4:. In aboat-transferringapparatus the com-- bination with a tank, rail-trackstherefor, and

a plurality of wheel-frames for supporting the saidtank, of bearingmeans between the wheelframes and the tank comprismg two surfaces ofsuitable'form, a plurality of rollers adapted to work between saidsurfaces, and means for guiding the wheel-frames in a horizontal planebeneath the tank.

5. In a boat-transferring apparatus the combination withatank,rail-trackstherefor, and a plurality of wheel-frames forsupporting the IIO said tank, of bearing means between the wheel- 1frames and the tankconsisting of pairs of horizontal bearing-surfacesand a plurality of roll ers adapted to work between the same, and

Vertical guiding-surfaces'connected to the tank and the wheel-framesrespectively. i

6. In a boat-transferring apparatus the complurality of wheel-frames forsupporting the said tank, of bearing means between the wheelframes andthe tank consisting of pairs of horizontal bearing-surfaces and aplurality of rollers adapted to work between the same, and

vertical guiding-surfaces beneath the tank'and for guiding thewheel-frames under the tank. 7. In a boat-transferring apparatus the combination of a tank, rail-tracks therefor, and a "rollersadapted'toengage with said surfaces boats, of means for closing the end of saidtank, wheel-frames for supporting said tank, shores for supporting aboat against the rigid walls of the tank, and a beam, a counterweighttherefor, a pivot, and shores mounted on said beam whereby the boat maybe supported at its end after it has been introduced into the tank.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two su bscribing witnesses.

' THOMAS THOMSON.

Witnesses:

D. LAKE, G. BULLOCK.

